Kindree recognized for life's work

It may be 60 years since LaVerne Kindree first arrived in
Squamish. But the doctor who helped develop the town’s healthcare centre can
still be found tirelessly working behind the scenes — though he’d never call
any attention to himself.

One day after joining the honourary Order of Canada, a retired
Kindree spoke point-blank about his recent fundraising work to buy medical
equipment for Squamish General Hospital, his 50-plus year medical practice, and
his fierce community involvement.

“Things that need to be done come along, and so you pitch in
and try and do them,” said Kindree in his soft, weathered voice.

“It is not so much anything drives you, other than the
opportunities that come along to do things and you just naturally take them
on.”

Kindree was one of 61 people named to the Order of Canada on Dec.
28.

Those named to the highest order include Celine Dion, tenor Ben
Heppner, and businessman Peter Munk. The second highest rank contains former
politicians Iona Campagnolo and Allan MacEachen.

Like Kindree, poet Don McKay also became a Member of the Order,
the third highest level.

“It is quite an honour to be named,” said Kindree, who received
the phone call from the Governor General’s office in Ottawa four weeks ago. He
was told to keep quiet until after the official announcement was made.

“There are some famous people there.”

The Saskatchewan-born doctor first arrived in Squamish in 1948.
His predecessor had died in World War II, and the town was desperate for a
doctor.

“I came up to look at it, and I kind of liked the town,” said
Kindree, who had been working as an intern at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.

“I used to be a railroader before I went into medicine, and it
was a railroad town. That appealed to me.”

Squamish didn’t have a hospital then, and Kindree practised at
the back of a drug store in an office he shared with a dentist.

The town, though, recognized that a young doctor would probably
not stay long without a hospital. A committee was formed in 1950 to build a
proper facility, and two years later Squamish General Hospital opened its doors.

Kindree continued to practice medicine for the next 53 years.
Over time, the hospital grew in scope and scale, and today Squamish is home to
approximately 15 doctors.

Kindree’s service to the Sea to Sky community extends beyond
healthcare, though.

Among many things, Kindree sat on the Squamish municipal
council for 23 years, worked as a coroner for the B.C. government for 48 years,
spent eight years with the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and was a member
of the Squamish Chamber of Commerce.

Kindree also held weekly clinics at the Mount Currie Reserve
for 20 years.

And between 1989 and 1994, the doctor conducted a study with
his daughter, a nurse, to prove the existence of Lyme disease in B.C. Because
of their work, the B.C. government admitted the tick and field mouse-borne
disease was endemic to the province.

Kindree’s volunteerism did not decline after his retirement in
2001. Today, he remains a driving force behind the Squamish Health Care
Foundation Society.

The foundation’s recent work includes raising $3 million in
2006 to expand the emergency department and helping Whistler receive a Computed
Tomography (CT) scanner. They hope to buy more ultrasound equipment for the
hospital in the near future.

“My main effort has been to try and get the money to put the
equipment in the hospital so that they (today’s Squamish doctors) would have a
better chance at practising medicine then what we did,” said Kindree.

“There is so much technical machinery needed to practise
medicine now that if you don’t have it, you are at a great handicap. It is a
matter of trying to get that machinery so that they have a better chance at
practising medicine.”